


Like Always

by The13thBlackCat



Series: One Sky, One Destiny [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: (this probably would have never happened if Riku used his words), And everyone is confused, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, and blatantly misreading one another, but somehow it works out, feelings are hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 14:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10118597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The13thBlackCat/pseuds/The13thBlackCat
Summary: Sora and Kairi have been dating for a few weeks, and everything is great, even though Riku kind of hates it (but mostly doesn't, but kind of does). Except when it's not, because it's not the three of them anymore--now it's them, and him. And to complicate matters, Sora's just found out things about Riku he's not supposed to.





	

   Sora swallowed, trying not to be nervous as he made his way down to the docks. It was a lost cause; he’d been a jittery mess all day, ever since...

   It was so _awkward_. Even _thinking_ about it made him want to turn around, go back home, and burrow into his blankets until he forgot all about today—even if it took the entire rest of his life, which he was pretty sure it _would._

 _It was Riku’s fault, really._ He was just so damn…so damn _pretty._ It wasn’t a word Sora usually used to describe his best friend, but it fit—he’d always known Riku was _attractive._ After all, who _didn’t_ know that? He was pretty certain every girl on the islands had had a crush on him at some point or another, and he had this sort of aloof magnetism that drew your eye to him. Realizing Riku was…well, _hot…_ was like realizing the sky was blue or the ocean was wet: _duh,_ it took you this long to figure it out?

   But it hadn’t really occurred to him that _he_ might think Riku was hot. Him, _personally_ , not as an outside observer noting simple facts.

   It was terrifying.

   Mostly, it was terrifying because he had _no idea_ what to _do_ with that thought. Ignoring it wasn’t an option: it was _there_ now, stuck in his head, and he was pretty sure he would never be able to be in the same _room_ with Riku again, _ever_ —

   (not that he’d tried, not since _this afternoon_ )

   —and that meant he had to _deal with it_ somehow. But what was he supposed to do with this realization? He’d never, once, considered the possibility of having a _crush_ on Riku. Riku was a _guy._ Not to mention, his _best friend._ There were about a hundred ways it would be _weird_ or _wrong_ or _both_.

   And, sitting at the end of the dock and waiting for him, was the human embodiment of at least seventy-five of those ways. Probably more.

   Kairi looked up when she heard him approach, breaking into a bright smile—for a moment. Something must have been off in his expression— _go figure, with the mess the inside of his head was right now_ —because her smile quickly faded.

   “Sora? What’s wrong?” Before he could answer, she frowned up at him, her eyes narrowing. “Is this about the thing with Riku?”

   For a second, Sora froze, his heart leaping up somewhere into his throat. _She knew?! How did she— **Oh.**_ Riku must have talked to her. She hadn’t said much when she’d called him earlier—just that she wanted to meet up to discuss something—but…this made sense. Riku must have said something ( _how much had he told her? How much did he **know?**_ ) to make Kairi call him. Sora cleared his throat, trying his best not to look guilty— _he hadn’t even **done** anything to be guilty about, really_—and sitting down next to her.

   “He talked to you?” His voice sounded shaky and nervous to himself, but he hoped he was imagining it—Kairi didn’t seem to notice.

   “He called,” she answered, looking down at her lap. She had a small collection of different seashells there that she was threading together. Sora couldn’t make sense of what it was supposed to be yet. “He didn’t say much though. Just that something had happened, and you might be acting weird. I think he was trying to get me to talk to you. You know how he is.”

   Sora just laughed at that, nervous. _Yeah._

   “Hey.” Kairi’s hand came to rest on his leg, and he looked up at her, blinking—though he dropped his eyes to the ocean almost immediately, unable to quite bring himself to meet hers. Not after…

   “What’s going on? Like I said, Riku wasn’t really helpful, and I don’t like it when you two fight.”

   Sora swallowed. **_That_** _would have been much easier to resolve._ “I…we weren’t…I mean…” He took a breath, and Kairi nudged him gently.

   “Start from the beginning. What’s up?”

   “Well…I mean…” He took another breath, slower this time, watching the waves roll in. He realized after a moment that he’d been picking at a rough spot on the edge of his nail. “N-nothing, really. It’s just…we were fighting, you know…I mean, not _fighting,_ just practice stuff. Normal stuff. And, uh…well, he pinned me, right? And…” He cut off, unsure what to say, and was terribly conscious of the way his face _burned._

   “…and?” Kairi prompted after a moment. She sounded confused, though he still couldn’t bring himself to look at her to confirm it. “So what? You guys do that all the time…?”

   “Yeah, but...this time was… _different_.” Sora was reasonably certain he must already be blushing guiltily, but that didn’t stop his face from getting hotter at the thought of what had been _different._ It was hard to say, exactly, but somehow, this time—

   — _with Riku holding him down in the sand, his breathing hard and his skin flushed from exertion, his hair falling loose around their faces—_

   — _this time_ had been…not innocent. Not like it should have been. Not like it had _always_ been.

_(except it hadn’t, not really, because even when he was younger Sora had known it wasn’t just **Kairi** who made his heart race and his insides knot up without even doing anything, but he’d told himself it was nothing, then—Riku had always been the **cool** one, and Sora had always looked up to him, and anyway stupid teenage hormones were a thing, right? so it was nothing, definitely not the same as it was with Kairi, because that would be **weird** )_

   “I liked it!” He said finally, blurting it out almost before he could realize it. His face _burned._ “I m-mean, I…” He let out a harsh breath, dragging his fingers across his scalp. “It was _really hot_ and I mean for a second I just wanted to _kiss him!_ ”

   Kairi pulled back with a surprised sound and Sora finally forced himself to look up at her, waiting for the outburst that was sure to come. Before she could say anything, though, he took hold of her hands, continuing, “It’s not like…Kairi, _I love you._ I do! And I love what we have. It’s just…it’s just this stupid _thought_ I had, and I…I…”

   For a moment, Kairi looked hurt—worse, _betrayed_ —and Sora was certain he’d lost her. But then, her expression softened, and she looked away for a moment.

   She let out a short little laugh that didn’t sound amused, slipping a hand free to lay on top of his. “Hey. It’s okay. Just a dumb thought.”

   “Yeah…” Sora swallowed, dropping his eyes. It still felt like a _betrayal_ , though, even if nothing had _happened._ Kairi was his _girlfriend,_ his _best friend_. How could he think about _anyone_ else like that, even for a second? _Especially_ Riku, of all people. It would have been bad enough if it was someone _else_ , but Riku was _her_ best friend too.

   “Hey.” Kairi’s voice was soft, gentle. She reached up to touch his cheek and he looked up at her. “Stop looking like that, Sora.” She leaned forward to kiss his cheek lightly. “It’s okay.” She cleared her throat, then dropped her hand, looking away again. “Besides, it’s not like you’re the _only_ person who’s ever wanted to kiss Riku, you know?”

   Sora blinked a few times at that, trying to process the comment. “Wh—“ He sat back a little, unsure what to say. Did she mean what he thought? Surely she wouldn’t have said anything if not—she must _know_ how it sounded. “Kairi, do you…”

   “I mean, I know it sounds bad, but…I guess you just…” She sighed, reaching up to brush her hair back and avoiding his eyes. “I’ve…always had a crush on you, you know? Since I was little, I think. But…it wasn’t just _you._ It was Riku, too.” She took a breath. “I love you, Sora. I _know_ that. But…I…” Her voice dropping to a whisper, she finished, “I think I love Riku, too.”

   Sora blinked a few times at her, unsure how to respond. Before he could, though, Kairi continued, her voice tight, “I mean…maybe it’s not the same thing. Maybe it’s just because he’s my best friend, just like you, and it’s _almost_ the same. But…it _feels_ the same. I just…I can’t imagine not having one of you around. And yes, I love you, and I want all that coupley romance stuff with you…but I want that with _him_ too. And…sometimes I hate that I had to pick one of you for it.”

   She trailed off, looking out at the waves, and Sora just stared at her for a moment, trying to sort out how he felt about what she’d just said. Finally, he let out a short, tight little laugh. “…wow. I’m not sure if that makes this…less awkward or more.”

   Kairi laughed in response, unamused, and looked up at him. “Well, I mean…I promise not to be mad if you aren’t?”

   Sora snorted softly, reaching up to brush his fingers across her cheek. “I can’t really be mad at you, can I? That wouldn’t be fair.”

   She smiled briefly, before shifting away. It was only so she could adjust herself to scoot closer, though, sliding her fingers between his and resting her head on his shoulder. Her other hand went back to her lap, toying with one of the shells as she looked out on the ocean.

   “I know that sounds bad,” she said, quiet, “but I love you, Sora, I swear. Just—”

   “No,” Sora cut her off. “I…it doesn’t really sound that bad at all.” Admittedly, Sora wasn’t entirely sure how to _take_ the revelation yet, but he was sure it wasn’t really… _bad_. Part of him had always suspected—he and Riku had competed for Kairi’s attention for as long as he could remember, and that meant that he’d always worried Kairi would have chosen Riku over him, even before he’d really known what that entailed. But she hadn’t, in the end, after all. (Even if it took _Riku_ pushing him to ask her out before he’d found that out.)

   Except now…she _did_ love Riku. And part of him wanted to be jealous at the mere thought—more than normal, even, because she wasn’t just his friend anymore, she was his _girlfriend_ —and part of him, paradoxically, was happy for her, because after all, Riku _was_ a great guy.

   And, most of all, he thought he understood what she meant more than he would have ever expected to.

   “I…” He took a breath. “Riku’s always been my best friend, you know? For as long as I can remember. I don’t even really remember _meeting_ him…he was just always around.” He swallowed. “And then…he wasn’t. Neither of you were. And when I found him again…he wasn’t himself.” His breath hitched a bit at the thought. “And sure, it _hurt_ , because he was my _best friend_ , but…but now…now, I don’t know if it was just that.”

   He shook his head, swallowing, and Kairi sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. “…it was easier when we were kids,” she said, very quiet. “You know, when it was always the three of us, no matter what?”

   Sora laughed at that, humorless. “Yeah.” He didn’t say anything else, though, too torn to figure out _what_ to say. Part of him wished they could go back to that—just being friends, with no weird feelings or desires mucking things up. But the very thought made his stomach clench, his heart pounding painfully in his chest. He’d had a crush on Kairi— _loved_ Kairi—for ages, and finally being able to act on it was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. He didn’t want to give it up for anything, not now, when he knew what it was like. He just…wanted to share that with Riku, too.

   “It’s weird,” Kairi said after a moment, quiet, “but I’m not really surprised, you know? About you.”

   Sora looked down at her, blinking, shaken out of his thoughts. “You’re not?”

   She gave a little shrug. “Nah. Not really. I mean…you two have always been really close. Like you said, you’ve been best friends forever, even before _I_ knew you two. It’s…not really any weirder than, like…thinking of _me_ loving Riku, and…um…”

 _Right._ _Which she does._ There was a little lurch in his chest at the thought, confused and uncertain.

   “Well, at least you don’t have to worry that he’d never talk to you again if he found out.” Sora almost cringed when he realized he’d said it aloud, his voice soft and quiet. Kairi lifted her head off his shoulder to look at him with a confused little noise, and he sighed, closing his eyes for a moment and squeezing her hand.

   “Well…since we’re being honest…” He shook his head. “I…always thought he had a thing for you, you know? I mean, maybe just because I was _worried_ he did, but…” He trailed off. Ever since Riku had pushed him to ask Kairi out, he’d been doing his best to play off their past competition for her attention as nothing more than poking at Sora’s soft spots. In fact, he’d made a bit too _much_ of a point of it—if it really _had_ been nothing, would he had tried so hard to make sure Sora _knew_ that?

   Besides, he’d noticed the little shift in Riku’s mood since he and Kairi had started dating. It was nothing major, barely even noticeable—he was a touch quieter at times, a tiny bit more distant some days—but somewhere in his gut, Sora knew better than to assume it was nothing. It was because of Kairi—like he was trying to back off a bit, until he had a chance to come to terms with the fact that she’d chosen Sora over him.

   Even if she only had because _he’d_ made sure of it.

   “Really?”

   Kairi’s question—full of surprise and confusion—snapped him out of his thoughts. Sora gave a loose little shrug in response.

   “Yeah. So, you know…if he knew about _you_ , well…” He trailed off, quiet for a second. “I think…he must have figured it out, about me. That’s why he called you. I just…” He shook his head. “What am I gonna do, Kairi? He’s my _best friend._ It’s not like I _did_ anything, but now things are going to be weird and _stupid_ and that’s _if_ he ever talks to me again—“

   Kairi didn’t answer, frowning at the ocean. “It’s always been the three of us,” she said, her voice quiet. Sora cut off, looking down at her, and Kairi took a breath. She turned to look at him and laid her hand over his, her expression fierce and determined. “Well, why can’t it be now? You, me, and Riku. Together. Like always.”

   For a second, Sora just stared at her, absolutely at a loss for how to respond. _Was that even…_ but why _shouldn’t_ it be possible? They had already been friends their entire lives. It was pretty much like that, right? Just…a bit different. After all, his relationship with Kairi hadn’t changed _too_ much after they started dating—it just involved more kissing and date night ( _and less Riku,_ he thought, naggingly), but otherwise, they did all the same things they always had.

   How would it be any different to involve Riku?

   “I mean,” Kairi continued at his silence, “ _I_ love Riku. _You_ love Riku. And if Riku likes _me,_ then…”

   “That still leaves me,” Sora answered, unconvinced, but Kairi shook her head.

   “You’re his _best friend,_ ” she said, as if that was enough to settle the matter. He frowned, quiet, and she continued a second later, “Sora, he’d do _anything_ for you.”

   “That doesn’t mean—“

   “No, it doesn’t,” Kairi cut him off, “but it sure makes it more likely, you know?”

   Sora fell quiet at that, dropping his eyes. Kairi squeezed his hand gently, and he took a breath.

   “…you think I should talk to him?”

   “No.” He looked up at her, and Kairi shook her head. “I think _we_ should. He’s _our_ best friend, right?” She squeezed his hand again, and Sora took another breath, nodding. He didn’t feel convinced.

   “Right.”

   “Come on.” Kairi gathered up her shells in one hand, pulling Sora to his feet with the other. She stuffed the shells into her pocket, pulling out her phone and tapping away at the screen before she held it to her ear.

   “Hi, Riku? Where are you?” She was silent for a moment, then answered, “Okay, good. Don’t go anywhere. I’m gonna be over there soon. Reasons, okay? It’s important. I mean it, don’t move.” 

* * *

   “I mean it, don’t move.”

   Riku laughed in response, though it sounded it a little tight. “Okay, Kairi, I get the point.”

   “Good. See you soon.”

   For a moment, Riku just looked at his phone as she hung up, frowning at her contact picture. It was one of all three of them—like most of their pictures, actually. It blinked off the screen after a second, though, and he sighed, looking up at the sky.

 _Had she talked to Sora? She must have._ But the fact that she hadn’t just _said_ so scared the hell out of him. That meant she didn’t want to discuss _anything_ except in person, and _that_ meant it must be _bad._

_Sora was never going to speak to him again, was he?_

   Okay, so he knew that was ridiculous—it wasn’t like he’d _done_ anything. But with how quickly Sora had made an excuse to leave… _something_ must have finally clued him in to the fact that maybe, just maybe, his best friend was a little _too_ interested in him.

   It was so _stupid._ He couldn’t point to an exact time when this dumb little crush had popped up, but as long as he could remember, he’d been trying to hide it. At first, it had been because he simply had no idea what to _do_ with those feelings—Sora was his _best friend_ , and a _boy_ (so he wasn’t supposed to have a crush on him, right? That was what _girls_ were for), and anyway Riku had been young and stupid. Eventually, though, he’d realized Sora and Kairi were developing feelings for each _other_ , and that was reason enough to ignore his own.  (Not that he’d ever been very good at it, but he’d _tried._ )

   And now, all that hard work had been rendered completely pointless in a single afternoon.

   It was going to be _awkward_ , that was unavoidable. But…they were his best friends. They’d forgiven him for far worse than having a stupid crush on Sora (and Kairi…though, for now, he could at least tell himself they didn’t know about _that_ too). Right? It would be fine.

   It had to be fine.

   He sighed heavily, staring up at the stars and trying not to count the seconds. It wouldn’t take Kairi long to get over here, he knew that. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to hurry or not.

   It felt like eternity and not long enough had passed by the time he heard footsteps on the wooden walkway leading to his island. He swallowed, but didn’t turn to look, just as he registered that it wasn’t just _one_ set. Kairi wasn’t alone.

_Oh, hell. She’d brought Sora. That wasn’t good._

   “Hey.” Kairi joined him on the paopu tree with only that greeting, folding her hands in her lap. Sora went to lean against the trunk on Riku’s other side, clasping his hands behind his head. _Did it seem like they were making sure to keep a little space between them? Was he just imagining that? **Hell.**_

   “Hey.” Riku deliberately didn’t look at either of them, unsure if he wanted to. “What’s up?”

   “Riku…” Kairi took a breath, like she was preparing herself for something. “We need to talk.”

   Riku’s chest clenched at those four words, his heart pounding. _“We need to talk.” When has that ever been something you wanted to hear?_

   “About today?” he ventured slowly. Both of them shifted—looking at each other—before Sora answered.

   “Yeah…kind of.” He took a breath. “Look, Riku…it’s okay. I’m not…mad, or anything.”

   Riku let out a nervous little laugh. “Hey, guys…we don’t really need to talk about that, okay? Just…it’s just this stupid… _thing_ that happened. It doesn’t need to be a big deal, right?”

   “Well, see…that’s the thing, Riku.” He chanced a nervous glance at Kairi when she spoke. She was looking down at her lap, wringing her hands absent-mindedly. “It kind of… _is_ a big deal.” She took a breath, then said, “First, Riku…you’re our _best friend._ You know that?”

   His throat tightened. _“You’re our best friend, don’t make this weird.” She may as well have said it out loud._ “Yeah,” he said, very quiet.

   “Then,” Sora began, “promise to hear us out, okay?” Was Riku imagining the little nervous tremor in his voice, or not?

   “Okay,” he said, his voice still quiet and wary.

   “We…talked.” Kairi paused, clearing her throat. “About a lot of things, actually. Today, and us. And you.”

   Riku’s heart clenched at that, and he started to say something, before snapping his mouth shut when he remembered he’d promised to hear them out. He swallowed, hard, unsure where to look.

   “Things…aren’t the same between us,” Sora continued, “not since Kairi and I started dating, you know?”

 _I **know** that,_ Riku thought, his mental voice too harsh and too hurt and too angry. He bit his tongue to keep from saying it out loud.

   “And that’s the problem,” Kairi spoke up for him, “because we _want_ it to be the same. The three of us, like always.”

 ** _What?!_** They were _not_ going to _break up_ over this, were they? He’d kick _both_ their asses if they were, then lock them in a room until they figured out how stupid that was ( _never mind_ that they both had Keyblades, _he’d figure something out_ ), and—

   “But the thing is, Riku,” Kairi continued, oblivious to his internal monologue, “we don’t…want to go back to being just friends, either. That won’t work now, we know that.”

   “Which leaves us one choice…” Sora added, before trailing off slowly.

   Riku froze, unsure how to respond. He realized after a moment they were waiting for him to say something, and he swallowed, beginning slowly, “Guys…?”

   Both of them moved. Kairi shifted closer to him, turning to look at him, a hand going to his leg to brace herself. It shouldn’t have been anything for him to _notice,_ but right now, it made his heart pound and his stomach clench. Sora had pushed himself off the paopu tree to step in front of him, crossing his arms across Riku’s knees as he looked up at him. He was effectively trapped there, and he couldn’t look anywhere without looking at one of _them,_ looking up at him with pleading blue eyes.

   “We want _you_ , Riku,” Sora said, his voice soft and shaking a little with nerves.

   “With us,” Kairi clarified, “like always.”

   For a second, Riku _swore_ his heart skipped a beat, and possibly that he’d entirely misheard what they’d said, because it didn’t _make any sense._ They—

   “You…y-you… _what?_ You can’t be serious!” It was out before he’d meant to say it, and he went stiff once he realized he had. Sora bit his lip, looking crestfallen, but Kairi spoke up.

   “We _are_ ,” she said, firmly. “We _love_ you, Riku. It’s…not going to be the same without you.” She took a breath, then added, gentler, “But if you don’t want to…that’s fine. We get that. We’ll deal. But…if it’s an option, then…”

 _If it’s an option._ He’d never even… _considered_ this before. Why would he? He’d always known Sora and Kairi wanted each other—that much was blatantly obvious from spending ten minutes with them, and he’d spent ten _years_. So that was the end of it, right?

   It had never occurred to him to consider they might want _him_ too.

   And, now that it had been brought up, he realized _he_ wanted that too, so badly it was hard to breathe.

   “You’re…serious?” He hadn’t realized how choked he’d gotten until he said those two words, and he swallowed, hard, trying to push back the overpowering rush of emotion trying to bubble to the surface. _They **loved** him._ Not as friends, or even best friends.

   They _loved_ him.

   “Yes,” Kairi answered, and Sora nodded, biting into his lower lip again as he looked up at Riku. Kairi’s hand came up to touch his cheek slowly, and she gently turned his head towards her. She looked uncertain, _scared_ , but like she was doing her best not to be; and before she could lose her nerve, she leaned forward, her lips meeting Riku’s in a short, soft kiss.

   He made a choked sound in his throat, too shocked to figure out how to respond before she’d pulled away. He didn’t even get a chance to _try_ and collect his thoughts before Sora took hold of his shirt, pulling him down so he could kiss Riku himself, just as soft and short.

   Riku was reeling by the time Sora let him go, his breathing hard and hitching and his heart pounding in his chest. The two of them just looked at him in tense silence, waiting for him to respond.

   Without saying a word, Riku dragged Kairi back to kiss her, hard and desperate. She made a gaspy, surprised noise when he released her, slipping off the paopu tree’s trunk and catching hold of Sora’s shoulders to pull him into an equally fierce kiss.

   “You’re _serious,_ ” he said again, voice choked, when he pulled back, and Sora let out a breathless, giddy giggle, staring up at him with wide eyes.

   “We’re serious, Riku,” he answered, breaking into a wide grin, and beside him, Riku felt Kairi slide off the paopu tree, standing up on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek.

   “Absolutely serious,” she agreed. “The three of us, together. Like always.”

   Riku let out a short laugh at that, choked and giddy, and pulled them both into a tight hug, ignoring Sora’s squawk of surprise and Kairi’s giggling.

   “Like always,” he answered, and that was that.


End file.
